Crystals to Help You Sleep!

So many of us are chronically sleep deprived due to a myriad of reasons – stress, over-stimulation from television, computers and phones, poor exercise and eating habits, etc.; I have never been a great sleeper and in fact am perfectly happy and energetic operating on six hours of sleep per night, which I’m consistently told is “not enough” but in recent years the added effects of menopause have made sleeping through the night even more difficult. One of the many delightful by products of menopause seems to be free-floating anxiety which especially seems to manifest in the dead of the night. (And further upon waking in the morning I often wonder what on earth I was even worried about).

A common complaint I hear about from my friends and which I frequently experience is waking up at about 4:00 am and really having to make a concentrated effort to get back to sleep. Many of said friends resort to taking sleeping pills which I am loathe to do, for so many reasons – strong belief in a more natural approach, not wanting to take drugs the full side effects of which I don’t know even if they’re supposedly known to those in the medical community, not wanting to engage in a dependency which might be difficult to rid myself of, etc. Instead I try deep breathing while repeating a mantra to myself, listening to a guided meditation or soothing music, or reading, and hope for the best.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine: “Waking up between 3:00 am and 5:00 am is associated with the energy meridian that runs through the lungs and the emotion of sadness. To help yourself get back to sleep, try some slow, deep breathing and express faith in your Higher Power to help you.

If the time that you awaken is between 3:00 am and 5:00am, it could also be a sign of your Higher Power alerting you to pay attention to messages that are being sent to align you with your higher purpose….Your sleep cycle is a time when you dream and you can also receive messages from the Divine about your path. Dreams can reveal details about the spiritual journey that you are on. As a human being on a spiritual journey, you need to be aware of the signs that your Higher Power is sending to you.

All good and fascinating but we need a good night’s sleep to be able to achieve all of the things we want to achieve during the daytime and hopefully feel really good and energetic while we’re doing it!

My current favorite sleep-aiding crystals are the ones shown here – a Selenite palm stone in my left hand and a Shungite palm stone in my right hand.

The Selenite is cleansing, clearing, and opens the channels to higher frequencies. It helps to align your chakras and to clear the path to the Etheric Chakras – those above the Crown Chakra. The Shungite activates light energy which works against darkness and negativity. The combination of the two is so incredibly soothing, it can move me into deep sleep in moment.

At other times I’ll use Chrysocolla or Rose Quartz for heart opening and support for the loving relationships in my life, Carnelian if I want to focus on enhancing my creativity (as I often do as I design and create jewelry), Amethyst if I feel that I’m suffering from insomnia, if I’m feeling unbalanced, or simply to help me stay calm, or Labradorite to open my Third Eye and enhance my connection to the spiritual world.

These stones can of course be used at any time of the day if you need some extra soothing. Recently, I was going to New York (I live in Los Angeles) and I knew I was going to see a friend who had suffered an unimaginable tragedy with one of her children (who is still alive); I wanted to bring her something to make her feel a little better and was racking my brain as to what to get. I finally settled on simply bringing her a Rose Quartz palm stone exactly like the one pictured above, to help get her through the painful times she was going through. She doesn’t consider herself to be a spiritual person at all, but she was so moved by the gift and has told me time and time again how very useful it has been to her and how much it has helped her. I’m moved to tears event thinking about it.

When I’m feeling particularly meditative and desirous of reaching higher spiritual levels I’ll bring out my treasured pair of Shaman Stones. Shaman Stones usually come in pairs, one female and one male stone. These high frequency stones also help balance male-female energies. They have strong metaphysical properties for spiritual growth, and help overcome deep seated fear, are potent psychic protection stones, and help to repel negative entities. My two came in a matched male/female pair and absolutely radiate energy and mystery. I can easily get lost in the worlds that exist inside them.

And if I feel like I want to exponentially increase the potency of the crystals I’m holding, I’ll take my beautiful clear Quartz crystal sphere or wand and put it on my chest, which always works like a charm. As an added bonus Quartz is said to help ensure pleasant dreams. It also can help you move into Rapid Eye Movement Sleep which is the sleep phase in which our bodies work to repair damage which might have occurred during the day.

Of course it’s extremely important to frequently cleanse the crystals you’re using as sleep aids/enhancements as they absorb so many energies as you sleep.

And….don’t make the mistake of interacting with stimulating crystals which can actually serve to prevent you from sleeping, by producing agitation and making your brain believe that it’s time to think rather than sleep. The decrease of Melatonin has in fact been noted with the usage of certain crystals. Thus enhancing crystals such as clear Quartz or extremely powerful crystals such as the Shaman Stones may not be right for you.

It’s all a matter of experimenting to see what works best for you, and having fun and hopefully building a crystal collection while you’re doing so (and hopefully throwing out those sleeping pills!).